TankBud

Red head goby

Elacatinus puncticulatus

Also known as Redhead Goby, Panamic Redhead Goby, Tigrigobius puncticulatus

SaltwaterFish

Red head goby (Elacatinus puncticulatus)
Cjarvis42 · CC BY-SA 3.0

Care at a glance

Temperature
72–79°F
22–26°C
pH
8.1–8.4
Adult size
2 in
5 cm
Minimum tank
11 gal
40 L
Temperament
Peaceful
Social behavior
Social
Swim level
Bottom
Difficulty
Easy
Breeding
Medium
Rarity
Common
Reef safe
Reef safe
Family
Gobiidae
Origin
Eastern Pacific, Gulf of California to Ecuador

Overview

The red head goby is a small, peaceful goby for a nano reef tank. It is easy to keep.

Did you know

The red head goby hides in a living fortress in the wild. When threatened, it tucks itself between the spines of the slate pencil urchin, Eucidaris thouarsi, and waits for trouble to pass.

Caring for the red head goby

The red head goby is well suited to a nano tank of 11 gal (40 L) or more. Keep the water at 72 to 79°F (22 to 26°C) with a pH of 8.1 to 8.4.

Captive-bred stock takes pellets and frozen foods readily. The red head goby is a facultative cleaner, so it picks parasites off its tank mates now and then. It does not depend on those client fish for food.

Red head gobies are peaceful and reef safe, and they mix well with other community fish. Two males will squabble, so keep one or a pair. Breeding them is moderately difficult.

Good to know

The red head goby is one of the few fish in the neon goby group that lives on the Pacific side of the Americas. Some references place it in the genus Tigrigobius. It wears its color on the head, a red to orange hood set off by fine gold and blue lines. The body below is pale and dark-flecked.

In the wild

The red head goby lives on shallow rocky reefs in the eastern Pacific, from the Gulf of California down to Ecuador. It is usually found in just 2 to 6 m of water. It works the rock for tiny crustaceans and the odd parasite.

Weekly picks

Tank mates

The red head goby is a peaceful, social species that keeps to the bottom. These picks share a community profile with it, are safe together in both directions, and overlap on water type, temperature and pH.

Check the full mix in the stocking calculator

Common questions

What size tank does a red head goby need?

A red head goby needs at least 11 gal (40 L). It spends most of its time in the bottom.

What temperature and pH does a red head goby need?

A red head goby is comfortable at 72–79°F (22–26°C) with a pH of 8.1–8.4.

What does a red head goby eat?

A captive-bred red head goby takes pellets and frozen foods readily. As a facultative cleaner, it also picks parasites now and then, but it does not depend on client fish.

How big does a red head goby get?

An adult red head goby reaches about 2 in (5 cm).

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